U.S. patent application number 17/083047 was filed with the patent office on 2021-05-06 for recyclable laminate.
The applicant listed for this patent is Chen-Cheng HUANG, Pao-Han HUANG, Pao-Hao HUANG. Invention is credited to Chen-Cheng HUANG, Pao-Han HUANG, Pao-Hao HUANG.
Application Number | 20210129487 17/083047 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005221777 |
Filed Date | 2021-05-06 |
![](/patent/app/20210129487/US20210129487A1-20210506\US20210129487A1-2021050)
United States Patent
Application |
20210129487 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
HUANG; Chen-Cheng ; et
al. |
May 6, 2021 |
RECYCLABLE LAMINATE
Abstract
A recyclable laminate includes a first thin layer that includes
a first inner surface, and a second thin layer that includes a
second inner surface. The first inner surface is partially fusion
bonded and partially unbonded to the second inner surface. No
adhesive is provided between the first and second thin layers. The
first thin layer and the second thin layer are made of a recyclable
material, and are structurally different from each other. A
recyclable garment made from the recyclable laminate is also
disclosed.
Inventors: |
HUANG; Chen-Cheng; (Taipei
City, TW) ; HUANG; Pao-Hao; (Taipei City, TW)
; HUANG; Pao-Han; (Taipei City, TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
HUANG; Chen-Cheng
HUANG; Pao-Hao
HUANG; Pao-Han |
Taipei City
Taipei City
Taipei City |
|
TW
TW
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005221777 |
Appl. No.: |
17/083047 |
Filed: |
October 28, 2020 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B32B 7/05 20190101; B32B
2307/724 20130101; B32B 2307/7265 20130101; B32B 2437/00 20130101;
B32B 5/024 20130101; B32B 5/26 20130101 |
International
Class: |
B32B 7/05 20060101
B32B007/05; B32B 5/02 20060101 B32B005/02; B32B 5/26 20060101
B32B005/26 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 4, 2019 |
TW |
108139939 |
Claims
1. A recyclable laminate, comprising: a first thin layer including
a first inner surface; and a second thin layer including a second
inner surface, wherein said first inner surface is partially
fusion-bonded and partially unbonded to said second inner surface,
and wherein said first thin layer and said second thin layer are
made of a recyclable material, and are structurally different from
each other.
2. The recyclable laminate as claimed in claim 1, wherein said
first inner surface is partially fusion-bonded to said second inner
surface in absence of an adhesive therebetween.
3. The recyclable laminate as claimed in claim 2, wherein each of
said first thin layer and said second thin layer is selected from
the group consisting of a membrane, a non-woven fabric, a plain
woven fabric, a knitted fabric, a fibrous sheet, a blended yarn
fabric, a three-dimensional fabric, an embossed fabric, and a
resinous sheet.
4. The recyclable laminate as claimed in claim 2, wherein said
first thin layer is a membrane, and said second thin layer is a
fabric.
5. The recyclable laminate as claimed in claim 2, wherein each of
said first thin layer and said second thin layer is a fabric.
6. The recyclable laminate as claimed in claim 1, wherein said
first thin layer and said second thin layer are made of a
thermoplastic material.
7. The recyclable laminate as claimed in claim 6, wherein said
thermoplastic material is selected from the group consisting of
polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, thermoplastic
polyurethane, polyethylene, and thermoplastic polyamide.
8. The recyclable laminate as claimed in claim 6, wherein said
first thin layer and said second thin layer constitute a garment,
or a garment accessory.
9. The recyclable laminate as claimed in claim 1, wherein said
first inner surface of said first thin layer and said second inner
surface of said second thin layer are partially fusion-bonded by a
method selected from the group consisting of hot pressing, hot air
blowing, and high frequency bonding.
10. A recyclable garment, comprising: a first thin layer including
a first inner surface; and a second thin layer including a second
inner surface, wherein said first inner surface is partially
fusion-bonded to said second inner surface in absence of an
adhesive therebetween, and partially unbonded to said second inner
surface, and wherein said first thin layer is a breathable
waterproof thermoplastic microporous membrane, and said second thin
layer is a woven fabric made of a thermoplastic material.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority of Taiwanese Invention
Patent Application No. 108139939, filed on Nov. 4, 2019.
FIELD
[0002] The present disclosure relates to a recyclable laminate, and
more particularly to a recyclable laminate made of recyclable
material that can be melt-bonded to form a garment or a garment
accessory.
BACKGROUND
[0003] With advancement of textile technology, selection of raw
materials for manufacturing textile products (e.g., garments) can
be more diverse, so as to confer more functions to the textile
products according to practical requirements. However, a recycling
process of such garments is troublesome, and remains a problem to
be solved. For example, in a process for manufacturing a garment
made from a recyclable material such as polyethylene terephthalate
(PET) bottles, the bottles, after being collected, are sorted
according to colors, then subjected to disintegrating, cleaning,
impurity removing, and dehydrating steps so as to be processed into
cleaned polyester granules, followed by melt spinning and drawing
to form yarns, which are subsequently made into fabrics and
garments. When such garments, after being used, are recycled, the
abovementioned steps of the manufacturing process are also
required, and the previously encountered problems in the steps of
sorting and impurity removing would be further amplified, requiring
more steps for subsequent recycling process.
[0004] On the other hand, if a garment requires breathability and
waterproofing functions or multiple accessories for holding things,
a conventional method for manufacturing such garment includes
bonding a breathable and waterproof microporous membrane layer to a
fabric sheet using polyurethane reactive hot melt adhesives (PUR),
which is also used for bonding garment accessories such as pockets,
zippers, water sealing tapes, etc. to the garment. However, since
PUR cannot be recycled, the discarded PUR would cause worrisome
environmental pollution, in addition to the abovementioned problems
of the recycling process.
SUMMARY
[0005] Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide
a recyclable laminate that can alleviate at least one of the
drawbacks of the prior art.
[0006] The recyclable laminate includes a first thin layer that
includes a first inner surface, and a second thin layer that
includes a second inner surface. The first inner surface is
partially fusion bonded and partially unbonded to the second inner
surface. The first thin layer and the second thin layer are made of
a recyclable material, and are structurally different from each
other.
[0007] Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a
recyclable garment that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks
of the prior art.
[0008] The recyclable garment includes a first thin layer that
includes a first inner surface, and a second thin layer that
includes a second inner surface. The first inner surface is
partially fusion bonded to the second inner surface in absence of
an adhesive therebetween, and partially unbonded to the second
inner surface. The first thin layer is a breathable waterproof
thermoplastic microporous membrane, and the second thin layer is a
woven fabric made of a thermoplastic material.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will
become apparent in the following detailed description of the
embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of
which:
[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of a
recyclable laminate according to the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0011] Before the present disclosure is described in greater
detail, it should be noted that where considered appropriate,
reference numerals or terminal portions of reference numerals have
been repeated among the FIGURES to indicate corresponding or
analogous elements, which may optionally have similar
characteristics.
[0012] Referring to FIG. 1, a recyclable laminate according to an
embodiment of the present disclosure includes a first thin layer 2
and the second thin layer 3 that is partially fusion-bonded to the
first thin layer 2. The first thin layer 2 and the second thin
layer 3 are made of a recyclable material such as a thermoplastic
material, and are structurally different from each other. Examples
of the thermoplastic material may include, but are not limited to,
polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, thermoplastic
polyurethane, polyethylene, and thermoplastic polyamide.
[0013] The thermoplastic materials used for making the first thin
layer 2 and the second thin layer 3 may be of a similar type, so as
to simplify process parameters of fusion bonding for producing a
composite finished product or laminate and to enhance strength of
fusion bonding, as well as to simplify recycling of the product or
laminate and to improve purity of the recycled thermoplastic
material, thereby facilitating and increasing the possibility of
repeatedly recycling the thermoplastic materials.
[0014] The recyclable laminate of the present disclosure may be a
combination of two or more fabric layers, or a combination of a
membrane and one or more fabric layers. In certain embodiments, the
first thin layer 2 is a membrane which has breathability and
waterproof characteristics, and the second thin layer 3 is a
fabric. In other embodiments of the recyclable laminate, the first
thin layer 2 and the second thin layer 3 are fabrics made of
thermoplastic materials of a similar type or different types.
[0015] When the first thin layer 2 and the second thin layer 3 are
made of a similar type of the thermoplastic material, the first
thin layer 2 and the second thin layer 3 may be directly connected
to each other by partial fusion bonding without use of an adhesive
therebetween.
[0016] Specifically, the first thin layer 2 includes a first inner
surface 21, and the second thin layer 3 includes a second inner
surface 31. The first inner surface 21 is directly melted and
partially fusion-bonded to the second inner surface 31 in absence
of an adhesive therebetween, and partially unbonded to the second
inner surface 31. Examples of a method used for partial fusion
bonding of the first inner surface 21 to the second inner surface
31 include, but are not limited to, hot pressing, hot air blowing,
and high frequency bonding. However, when the first thin layer 2
and the second thin layer 3 are structurally and materially
different from each other, the physical properties thereof, such as
melting temperatures, will be different, and fusion bonding method
such as high frequency bonding or ultrasonic bonding, cannot be
utilized. Therefore, an adhesive is required to form the recyclable
laminate. However, considering factors such as ease of recycling
and repeatability for reuse, the adhesive to be used should be a
thermoplastic adhesive that is of the same thermoplastic type as
one of the first and second thin layers 2, 3 and that is made from
a base material having the same thermoplastic type as one of the
first thin layer 2 and the second thin layer 3, to which a hot-melt
resin and an organic functional material are added.
[0017] The recyclable laminate of the present disclosure may be
used for making various textile products. An example of the textile
products is a recyclable garment which includes the first thin
layer 2 and the second thin layer 3. The first thin layer 21 is a
breathable waterproof thermoplastic microporous membrane, and the
second thin layer 31 is a woven fabric made of the thermoplastic
material. The first thin layer 2 includes the first inner surface
21, and the second thin layer 3 includes the second inner surface
31. The first inner surface 21 is partially fusion bonded to the
second inner surface 31 in absence of an adhesive therebetween, and
is partially unbonded to the second inner surface 31. The unbonded
parts of the first and second inner surfaces 21, 31 separably
contact each other. The bonded parts of the recyclable laminate of
the present disclosure may be situated at peripheral parts of the
first and second thin layers 2, 3, or at the inside of the
peripheral parts. Other examples of textile products made from the
recyclable laminate of the present disclosure may include garment
accessories such as zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, pockets,
etc.
[0018] Examples of each of the first thin layer 2 and the second
thin layer 3 may include, but are not limited to, a membrane, a
non-woven fabric, a plain woven fabric, a knitted fabric, a fibrous
sheet, a blended yarn fabric, a three-dimensional fabric, an
embossed fabric, and a resinous sheet. In order to provide the
recyclable laminate of the present disclosure with a lamination
configuration, the first thin layer 2 and the second thin layer 3
fusion bonded together are structurally different from each other.
In addition, suitable functional materials such as waterproof
and/or warming materials may be added to the first thin layer 2 and
the second thin layer 3, so that the thus made textile product is
conferred with various different functions.
[0019] It should be noted that, the abovementioned recyclable
garment and garment accessory are made from the recyclable laminate
of the present disclosure that is fabricated by partially fusion
bonding the first thin layer 2 and the second thin layer 3 without
use of an adhesive. Therefore, if the first thin layer 2 and the
second thin layer 3 are of the same type, the recyclable garments
and garment accessories, after being collected, may be directly
disintegrated, washed, and dehydrated without the need to undergo
sorting, and then processed into a raw particulate material. If the
first thin layer 2 and the second thin layer 3 are of different
types, the recyclable garments and garment accessories, after being
collected, will be first subjected to sorting of the first thin
layer 2 and the second thin layer 3, followed by the abovementioned
steps of the recycling process, indicating that such recycling
process is greatly simplified compared to conventional recycling
procedures.
[0020] In summary, by virtue of the first and second thin layers 2,
3 made of a recyclable thermoplastic material and partially
fusion-bonded together without use of any adhesive such as
polyurethane reactive hot melt adhesive (PUR), the resultant
recyclable laminate of the present disclosure is suitable for
subsequent recycling process to be reused, and thus, is
environmentally friendly.
[0021] In the description above, for the purposes of explanation,
numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a
thorough understanding of the embodiments. It will be apparent,
however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other
embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific
details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout
this specification to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," an
embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth
means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may
be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further
appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes
grouped together in a single embodiment, FIGURE, or description
thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding
in the understanding of various inventive aspects, and that one or
more features or specific details from one embodiment may be
practiced together with one or more features or specific details
from another embodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the
disclosure.
[0022] While the present disclosure has been described in
connection with what is considered the exemplary embodiments, it is
understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed
embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included
within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to
encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
* * * * *